


look at what you have built

by ShyAudacity



Series: Riverdale Prompt Fills [12]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Beating, Crying, Episode Related, F/M, Guns, Helpful Cheryl, Hospitals, Hurt Jughead Jones, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Jughead Jones Needs a Hug, Kidnapping, Multi, Non-Graphic Violence, Panic, Queerplatonic Relationships, Rescue, Worried Archie, could be poly if u squint, i almost wrote it that way haha, minor fluff, post episode 11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 07:21:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12316425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyAudacity/pseuds/ShyAudacity
Summary: “You see, I had a little chat with your father the other night. I have to say, he has quite the poker face, because I couldn’t see to figure out whether not I can depend on him. Your father, he is one tough cookie… but you knew that, didn’t you? If you don’t mind me asking, was he a good father to you, Jughead?”He’s been lying to me my entire life, but he’s never been any good at it.Jughead looks up, ready to fight back with his words, but instead, it dawns on him that they should have arrived at school by now. He looks out the window and finds that they’re not anywhere near Riverdale High, but Thornhill Manor is just up the road. A sick feeling settles in the pit of his stomach.“What are you-?”Clifford cuts him off, pulling a small, silver handgun out of his breast pocket.“It would be in your best interest to stay quiet.”ORconnor.finished.the.milk asked: What if Clifford Blossom went through with his threat to hurt Jughead? Can Archie and the gang find their friend before it is too late?





	look at what you have built

**Author's Note:**

  * For [trashmouthtrash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashmouthtrash/gifts).



> I'm so fuckin hyped for the new season to start on Wednesday, y'all don't even know.
> 
> Unbeta'd and title from Neil Hilborn's "Audiobook".

Two days after his father is arrested, Jughead leaves early for school. He’s dressed before Archie has even rolled out of bed. Jughead wouldn’t usually do this, but he’s trying to clear his head after everything that went down. It still makes his head spin to think about the fact that his father basically confessed to the murder of Jason Blossom. He doesn’t want to believe it… but he’s starting to.

He’s halfway to school, _Seventy times 7_ by Brand New is on repeat, blasting in his headphones when he realizes that a car has been following him.

It’s Clifford Blossom in one of his fancy cars. He rolls down the window as he pulls up next to Jughead.

“Mr. Jones,” Clifford says. “Taking an early stroll to school?”

Jughead doesn’t respond except to raise an eyebrow at the older man.

Clifford reaches over and pushes open the passenger side door.

“Get in. I’ll take you the rest of the way to school, we wouldn’t want you to catch a cold in this weather, now would we?”

Jughead feels uneasy about the whole situation, but he agrees, curious as to where this will go. The inside of the car is blissfully warm; Jughead settles his backpack between his legs then crosses his arms over his chest. He’s content to stare out the window and not make any conversation when Clifford speaks up.

“So, how is your father doing?”

It catches him off guard to say the least. Seeing as his father had, supposedly, shot Clifford’s son in the forehead, Jughead wasn’t expecting this to come up. He’d expected an awkward silence, maybe a half-assed _have a nice day_ once they arrived at school, but not this. He swallows around the new-found lump in his throat, telling himself that he can try and make small talk with Clifford.

“He’s been better, but you knew that, didn’t you?”

Well, no one ever said that he had to make _nice_ small talk.

Clifford hums around a laugh, keeping a straight face.

“Tell me, Jughead, do you think that your father is a trustworthy man?”

The question makes him uneasy, but Clifford doesn’t give Jughead a chance to respond before he’s continuing.

“You see, I had a little chat with your father the other night. I have to say, he has quite the poker face, because I couldn’t see to figure out whether not I can depend on him. Your father, he is one tough cookie… but you knew that, didn’t you? If you don’t mind me asking, was he a good father to you, Jughead?”

_He’s been lying to me my entire life, but he’s never been any good at it._

Jughead looks up, ready to fight back with his words, but instead, it dawns on him that they should have arrived at school by now. He looks out the window and finds that they’re not anywhere near Riverdale High, but Thornhill Manor is just up the road. A sick feeling settles in the pit of his stomach.

“What are you-?”

Clifford cuts him off, pulling a small, silver handgun out of his breast pocket.

“It would be in your best interest to stay quiet.”

A rush of panic like he’s never felt before floods his body. Jughead suddenly realizes that he’s the target in Clifford Blossom’s messed up game, whatever that may be.

The gate opens as they pull up to the expansive house. After turning the car off, Clifford goes over to the passenger’s side and grabs Jughead by the back of his neck, mostly dragging him towards the barn. It’s as he’s stumbling inside into the wooden building that he realizes that Clifford Blossom had something to do with the death of his son.

Jughead calls after the older man as he leaves.

“It was you. You did something to Jason… didn’t you?”

Clifford pauses in the doorway as he exits, but does not say anything. Instead, he leaves the barn door open just a crack, leaves Jughead standing there in the practically nonexistent light wondering what’s supposed to happen now.

His phone is in his backpack in Clifford’s stupid, lavish car, so Jughead can’t call Archie or Betty for help. No one was around when he’d gotten into the car in the first place, so nobody knows that he’s here to begin with. Hell, he’s not sure that anyone is going to notice that he’s not around. Jughead looks up with a confused face as if to ask the skies: _am I just supposed to wait here and do nothing?_

His question is answered ten minutes later when a bearded man that Jughead has never met before yanks the door open, a crowbar in his hand.

“Sorry, kid,” He says gruffly. “But the boss man says I have to.”

The bearded man then brings the crowbar down on Jughead’s face like it’s nothing. Jughead doesn’t even try to fight it, he knows better at this point in his life. He covers his face with his forearm as he lies on the cold ground, both giving up and protecting himself at the same time. A while later, and after one particularly hard blow to the head, reality faces away from him as his vision grows dark.  

***

Back at the school, Archie is sitting down to lunch while also looking for Jughead. He hasn’t seen him all day, figured that he’d left early to catch up on homework or something. Then, the rest of his friends approach the table minus Jughead, and a sinking feeling grows in the pit of Archie’s stomach.

“Where’s Jug?”

Betty looks confused. “He’s not with you? I didn’t see him this morning, I thought he must have been running late or something.”

Archie shakes his head. “No, no he left before I was even awake.”

He pulls his phone out of his pocket, immediately dialing Jughead’s number. It rings six times before going to voicemails.

_“This is Jughead, you know how the rest goes.”_

Archie’s confusion grows. He can’t remember a single time that he called and Jughead didn’t answer. He looks up from his phone and the rest of his friends are looking at him.

“No answer?” Kevin asks.

Archie shakes his head. “Something isn’t right here. Jughead _always_ answers his phone.” 

Betty chimes in again. “Maybe he’s here and we just missed him, let’s just check with the office before anyone panics.” 

The four friends walk to the front office only to find that Jughead never showed up for school that day.

“He’s been marked absent for every class today,” Mrs. Phillips tells them. “I tried calling home, but there was no answer.”

Archie looks around at all of his friends.

“Can we panic now?”

“Maybe he’s at the police station,” Veronica interjects. “His Dad is still there, right? Jughead could have ditched school to visit him.”

“I sure hope that you’re right.”

***

When Jughead wakes up, he’s aware of two things. 1) Someone must have moved him because he’s in a sitting position against the wall. 2) He’s never been this cold in all his life. His jacket isn’t as thick as it looks, and he doesn’t own any gloves to keep his hands warm. Just as well, he feels as though his head is made of lead, it’s almost impossible to keep his chin off his chest.

Jughead looks up blearily and finds Clifford Blossom seated in a chair a few feet away, looking at a tablet in his lap.

“Do you like movies, Jughead?” He asks. “I suppose that’s a stupid question seeing as you worked at the Twilight Drive-In up until recently. Such a shame about that place… my son always loved to go there.”

Jughead swallows to try and rid the dry feeling in his mouth.

“What do you want?” He rasps out. “Why am I here?”

Clifford looks up finally, then laughs.

“Well to show you something, of course.”

Jughead glares at him as best he can when Clifford tosses the tablet in his direction. It lands by his knee, Jughead can just barely see what’s happening on the screen.

Jason Blossom is tied to a chair. The same bearded man that had come in and done a number on Jughead earlier is standing in front of Jason, taunting him. Then, Clifford walks into the room and takes something out of Jason’s front pocket.

Jughead has a sick feeling as to what’s coming next, but he can’t bring himself to look away.

Then, on screen, Clifford takes a gun out of his front pocket and shoots his son in the forehead.

Jughead bites his lip, fully knowing he’ll never be able to unsee that.

“Young men these days are always turning into their father’s,” Clifford says. “Mine? He was a coward, hadn’t left his house in the ten years before he died. I saw Jason developing the same qualities as him, I’d worried that Jason would turn out just like my father. That’s why I had to do something.”

“Right,” Jughead remarks. “Because that justifies you shooting your only son right between the eyes?”

He regrets it the second it leaves his mouth, more so after seeing the angry look on Clifford’s face.

Clifford slides out of his chair and onto his knees, grabbing Jughead by the chin.

“Let me remind you of something, Mr. Jones,” He spits out. “People like me, my family? We’re at the top of the food chain in a country like this. You? Your so-called family? You’re lucky to even be here in the first place. The sooner that southside trash people like you figure that out the better.”

Jughead doesn’t have time to react before Clifford slams the back of his head into the wall, rendering him unconscious.

***

When the four of them arrive at the police station, Archie is the first one at the front desk.

“Has F.P. Jones had any visitors today?”

The woman at the front desk shakes her head.

“His son stopped by a few days ago, but he hasn’t come by since.”

“Wh-… well, has anyone else come to see him?”

She turns away for a moment, checking her record books.

“Mr. Jones has only had one other visitor, the night that he was brought in for questioning. Clifford Blossom came in and talked to him for nearly an hour.”

Archie feels his panic growing, he locks eyes with Betty.

“You don’t think-.”

“He had to,” Archie interrupts. “There’s no way that he doesn’t know something about what happened to Jason. Why else would he come talk to F.P? Face it, Betty, he’s a part of this mess! My guess is that Clifford also knows where Jughead is.”

“What do we do now?”

Archie ponders on the situation for a moment before a realization comes to him.

“Cheryl. We have to find Cheryl.” He says. “Maybe she knows something that we don’t.”

The four of them race back to school in record time, nearly breaking the speed limit more than once. Luckily, Cheryl is in the first hallway that they search. She glares at the gaggle of friends, mostly Betty and Veronica. Cheryl calls out to them as she starts to walk away.

“There was a River Vixen meeting. Since you two losers were AWOL, I’ll have to repeat the message. I’m resigning from the-.”

“Can it wait, Cheryl?” Betty asks. “This is important.”

“What else could you possibly want from me?”

Archie calls out: “We think your Dad had something to do with what happened to Jason!”

Cheryl comes to a halt in the middle of the hallway. Slowly, she turns around, giving the four other teenagers a shameful look.

“I know.” 

“You know?”

“I’ve had my suspicions since homecoming.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because, you tangerine _dumbass_. Everyone already thinks of me as the stuck-up bitch who cried drowning! Half of this stupid town is convinced that I was the one that killed Jason! It wouldn’t have mattered what I said, no one would believe me. Besides, it’s my word against my parents, no one is going to try and prove them wrong.”

“We’re listening now, okay?” Archie tries. “We think that something might have happened to Jughead. Please, Cheryl, if you know anything at all, we need to know. He could be in a lot of trouble.”

Cheryl seems to contemplate whether or not she’s going to give Archie and everyone else what they want.

“Daddy took his favorite car out for a drive early this morning. He only does that when he has business to take care of… he hasn’t done that since July.”

Betty not so quietly gasps while Kevin mutters an _oh my god_. Archie simply nods, trying to think of what the next move is.

“We have to go to Thornhill.” He finally says.

“If you’re thinking of searching my house, then I’m coming with you.” Cheryl interjects. “I know every square inch of that place like the back of my hand. You’d never find Jughead without me.”

Archie nods at her. “Alright, c’mon, let’s go. We should hurry.”

The five of them pile into Archie’s truck. Archie can barely think straight on the drive over, it’s a miracle that he doesn’t get into a wreck. At some point, Betty reaches her hand out and takes a hold of Archie’s, giving him a mortified look. He squeezes back, unable to bring himself to let go.

Before they know it, all of them are at Thornhill Manor, running through the front gate and towards the house.

“Wait!” Cheryl exclaims. “The barn.”

“The barn?” Veronica questions.

“The barn. No one is allowed in there without my father’s permission, even me and Mommy. If he was going to hide something, it would be in the barn.”

Archie looks towards the barn, immediately noticing that the door has been pulled open. In an instant, he’s full out sprinting towards the open door, yanking it open the rest of the way. He thinks he’s going to be sick to stomach once he’s sees what’s inside.

Slumped against the far wall is a blue-lipped, pale in the face Jughead. He looks dead from this distance.

“Oh my god, Jug!” Archie yells as he runs inside, Betty hot on his tail.

Both of them fall to their knees on either side of Jughead. Betty begins to cry when she sees the state that Jughead is in. Archie turns back to look at the other three standing in the doorway, he locks eyes with Cheryl.

“Hey, what the hell did your dad do to him?” He yells.

“How the hell am I supposed to know? I didn’t even know he was here, I was at school, same as you!”

Turning back to his friend, Archie makes a quick work of trying to rouse him, placing a hand on Jughead’s chest and patting the side of his face. He breathes a sigh of relief when Jughead’s eyelashes begin to flutter.

“Jug, hey, Jughead. C’mon, look at me, man.”

Jughead’s face is pinched in pain as he finally opens his eyes, giving Archie a glazed over look.

“Arch?” He slurs.

Archie squeezes his hand, something in him says that it can’t possibly be good for the human body to be that cold.

“Yeah, yeah it’s me. Betty’s here, too.”

Jughead hums, his opposite arm twitches as if trying to find her. Betty reaches out, takes his other hand in both of hers and brings them to her lips. His head flops in her direction like a limp ragdoll.

“I’m here, baby, I’m here.” She says shakily. “We’re not going anywhere, okay?”

Archie yells over his shoulder. “Ronnie, call an ambulance. Kevin, call your dad, he needs to know what went on here.”

Jughead starts stammering as Archie turns back to face him.

“C-Clifford, he h-hurt-.”

“I know, Jug. We know who did this, he won’t get away with it.”

He makes a pained noise in the back of his throat.

“No,” Jughead says. “Jason. He killed J-Jason.”

Archie thinks that his head is going to explode, he looks over at Betty just as she throws a hand over her mouth. He doesn’t know how Jughead knows that, frankly he’s afraid to find out how he acquired the information. Instead, he focuses on the issue at hand. If he tries hard enough, Archie thinks he can hear the ambulance getting closer.

“Okay, okay, I believe you.” Archie tells him, his hand smoothing over Jughead’s jawline. “Just stay with us, alright? Just keep looking at me, Jug. Help is coming.”  

Two minutes later, Jughead’s eyes roll into the back of his head just as the paramedics walk in, somewhat politely moving Archie and Betty out of their way. Everything after that is a blur to Archie. He watches as the paramedics put Jughead onto a stretcher, into the back of the ambulance, and driving away with the sirens roaring.

At some point, Betty tucks herself under his arm, hugging his waist and crying into his shoulder. Archie slings his arm across her shoulder, pressing his mouth to her forehead as he tries not to fall apart as well.

In the background, Kevin says something about meeting Jughead at the hospital, and it’s only then that all of them leave. Archie looks back at the barn as he makes his way to the truck, wondering how so much could have gone wrong without him knowing.

***

They sit in the hospital waiting room for nearly three hours before they hear any news on how Jughead is doing. It’s later confirmed that Jughead has three cracked ribs, a mild case of hypothermia, a hairline fracture on the back of his head, and a litany of bruises that no one can explain. Archie doesn’t pay attention to much else after, he’s too focused on when he gets to see his friend.

By some grace of God, a nurse shows Betty and Archie to wear Jughead’s room is. Despite being under a layer of blankets, he’s shivering in his sleep when they walk in. The nurse assures them that it’s just the bodies way of warming up again, but that doesn’t make Archie any less panicked. There’s just enough room for Archie and Betty to sit on either side of Jughead. They each pull a chair over and find an open expanse of skin under the blankets, needing to be close with him.

It’s going on eight in the evening before Jughead opens his eyes. The first thing he realizes is that his head has never hurt this much in all his life. It takes him a moment to realize that this isn’t his bed- he hasn’t slept with this many blankets in years, he overheats too easily. He winces when the light hits his retinas, failing in his attempts not to panic. 

He doesn’t notice that a couple of someones are squeezing his hands until after they’ve come into his line of vision.

“Hey, Juggie.” Archie says quietly. “You back with us?”

Jughead furrows his brow in confusion until his eyes land on Betty. He relaxes at the sight of her.

“Hey, Jug.” She says.

“Hi,” He whispers. “Can I get some water?”

After gulping down two cups full of water, Jughead feels far less freaked out than he did when he woke up.

“I hate to ask you this,” Archie says sheepishly. “But do you remember any of what happened?”

_Clifford Blossom pulls up with a sly grin on his face._

_Clifford Blossom takes a gun out of his pocket and points it at Jughead._

_Clifford Blossom plays a video of Jason being murdered, then bashes Jughead’s skull into the wall at full force._

“No,” Jughead lies. “I don’t remember anything after I got in his car this morning.”

He tries to act surprised when Betty tells him that Clifford was the one who killed Jason. Despite the circumstances, he feels a little relieved. He knows now that his Dad isn’t guilty, or at least not as guilty as everyone originally thought he was.

After just a few minutes of talking, Jughead already feels exhausted. It’s getting harder to keep his eyes open.

“Jug? You okay?” Archie asks.

“I’m lil’ tired.”

“It’s probably the meds,” Betty tells him. “You can go to sleep Juggie, it’s okay.”

Jughead weakly curls his hands around both of his friends’.

He whispers: “Please don’t go anywhere.”

“We won’t, we’ll be right here when you wake up. I promise.”

As Jughead drifts off, Archie looks over his shoulder and through the window he sees Cheryl standing outside of the room. She bites her lip when Archie catches her eye, as if she hadn’t wanted anyone to know that she was watching. Archie mouths _thank you_ at her; Cheryl smiles lightly then nods in return. When he faces forward again, Betty has her free hand stretched out across the bed. Archie takes it willingly, giving her a gentle smile.

Today was bad, and this whole school year has been a cluster fuck so far, but Archie is content with his life right now. His two best friends are alive and mostly well, for now, that’s all that he needs.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Thanks so much for reading my fic! If you liked it then please leave a comment or a kudos, they encourage me to write more. If you wanna talk about Riverdale then you can find me on tumblr as thejugheadchronicles (it's a sideblog, fair warning). Thanks again for reading my fic, have a great day!


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